Australian PM to ban gambling advertising
Gillard warns operators and broadcasters to comply with new measures or have legislation fast-tracked into law
The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pledged to enforce a ban on gambling advertising during live sports broadcasts, calling on broadcasters to comply with the measures immediately.
National newspaper The West Australian reports Gillard has asked media companies to block the promotion of in-play odds and to ensure all other gambling advertising (which doesn’t refer to odds) is only aired in designated periods around broadcasts. Gillard’s proposals also block gambling operators from sponsoring teams and displaying banners in stadiums, while commentators and pundits are no longer allowed to refer to the latest odds.
“From the moment that the players step onto the field, from the moment that they leave the field, there will be no live odds,” Gillard said.
The Prime Minister has warned that should companies refuse to comply, the government will fast-track legislation to make such promotion illegal. Gillard is reported as saying that she had become “frustrated” by the prevalence of gambling advertising around live sport, prompting her to push for the change.
However, anti-gambling senator Nick Xenophon argued that Gillard’s measures did not go far enough, saying that the only way to fix the problem was by banning all gambling advertising during and around sporting events.
The ban comes after the South Australian government officially blocked the promotion of live odds in the state last week. Premier Jay Weatherill said at the time that the idea that Australia could “end up with a generation of children who believe gambling is a normal part of watching or playing sport” was “of great concern”.
A representative of the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority said pushing through the ban would make it more difficult for operators to organise interstate promotion of live odds, effectively acting as a national ban.
A number of other Australian media and political bodies have previously pledged to ban in-play advertising, with two proposals aired last month. The Green Party published a draft bill and television industry body Free TV Australia proposed to make changes to the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.
Most significantly, prime ministerial candidate Tony Abbott, who will contest September’s federal elections with Gillard, pledged to initiate a ban if no progress had been made after the election.
Abbott said that it was the government’s responsibility to act, adding that sporting events “should be about performances, not about whether you might make 10 bucks by guessing who scores the first goal”.